Appellate Practice

RRD has extensive experience in appellate advocacy before the Connecticut Appellate and Supreme Courts as well as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Effective appellate advocacy requires the finely tuned ability to review the record with a critical eye; to determine the viability of an appeal; to identify, analyze, and brief determinative legal and factual issues; and to present a logical and persuasive oral argument. This practice can be more demanding than trial. The record on appeal is usually fixed, the standards that permit relief are more stringent, and months of litigation must be condensed into an appellate brief. Unlike a jury trial, an oral argument provides an appellate attorney with only minutes to present a clear and forceful response to a question from the bench. Persuasive legal writing and oration are essential.

The firm’s recent representative appellate case wins include:

International Strategies Group v. Ness, (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, 2011) (Affirming U.S. District Court’s dismissal of action for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty brought against officer of investment bank accused of illegally dissipating $4 million investment).

Boulanger v. Town of Old Lyme, 127 Conn. App. 572 (2011) (Affirming summary judgment in favor of a Connecticut municipality and its first selectman in a lawsuit alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983; state and federal due process violations; state and federal equal protection violations; the takings clause of the state and federal constitutions; as well as a writ of mandamus and declaratory relief).

Juchniewicz v. Bridgeport Hospital, 281 Conn. 29 (2007) (Estate of patient, who died from an untreated bacterial infection that caused her to suffer toxic shock syndrome, brought wrongful death action against physician and hospital).

Lin v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 277 Conn. 1 (2006) (Upholding defense verdict in wrongful death action brought by estate of pedestrian who was struck and killed by a train while walking on a railroad trestle)